is a 1981 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It was released by Midway Manufacturing in North America. It is the sequel to 1979's Galaxian, and the second game in the Galaxian series. Controlling a starship, the player is tasked with destroying the Galaga forces in each stage while avoiding enemies and projectiles. Some enemies can capture a player's ship via a tractor beam, which can be rescued by another ship to give the player a "dual fighter" with additional firepower.
Shigeru Yokoyama led development with a small team. Initial planning took about two months to finish. Originally developed for the Namco Galaxian arcade board, it was instead shifted to a new system as suggested by Namco's Research and Development division. Inspiration for the dual fighter mechanic was taken from a film that Yokoyama had seen prior to development, in which a ship was captured using a large circular beam. The project became immensely popular around the company, with Namco's president Masaya Nakamura even taking interest.
Although early location tests were unsuccessful, Galaga went on to become one of the most successful titles of the golden age of arcade video games, routinely appearing on Japanese and American arcade charts through 1987. It was acclaimed by critics for its gameplay, innovation, addictive nature and improvements made over its predecessor, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time. Several home ports were released for a multitude of platforms, including the MSX, Atari 7800, and NES, alongside releases on digital distribution platforms such as Xbox Live Arcade and appearances in many Namco compilations. It was followed by Gaplus in 1984.
Gameplay
thumb|left|Gameplay with a Gorg the Boss Galaga using a tractor beam, while the player exchanges shots with aliens in formation in stage 4.
Galaga is a fixed shooter. The player controls Gyaraga at the bottom of the screen, which must prevent the Galaga forces from destroying all of mankind. The objective of each stage is to defeat all of the Galaga aliens, which will fly into formation from the top and sides of the screen. This is known as a kill screen.
Development
Galaga was created by Japanese developer Shigeru Yokoyama, a long-time veteran of Namco. Namco's first big video game hit in arcades was Galaxian (1979); the game's success led Namco to produce a large number of Namco Galaxian arcade boards to keep up with demand. The second game was instead made for newer hardware as suggested by Namco's Research & Development division. and Dig Dug (1982). Although Yokoyama was not given explicit instructions to make a shooting game, management expressed desire for him to make a game similar to Galaxian. Midway Manufacturing, who had previously licensed Galaxian, released the game in North America in November of that year. An MSX version followed in 1984. A conversion for the Family Computer was released in 1985 in Japan, which was later released internationally by Bandai for the Nintendo Entertainment System, subtitled Demons of Death in North America. Atari Corporation released a version for the Atari 7800 in 1986 as one of the console's thirteen launch games. In Europe, Aardvark Software released an unofficial port for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron called Zalaga in 1983 which was described by Computer and Video Games as "true to the arcade original".
Namco developed and released a Game Boy version in Japan in 1995, which was bundled with Galaxian. Two mobile phone versions were released, both confined to Japan; the first was for i-Mode in 2001, and the second for EZweb in 2006. The original arcade version was released for the Xbox Live Arcade service in 2006, featuring online leaderboards and achievements. The NES release was ported to the Wii's Virtual Console in 2007, A Roku port was published in 2011. In 2013, the NES version was released on both the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U's Virtual Console. Galaga was one of the four games released under the Arcade Game Series brand, which was published for the PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One in 2016. Hamster Corporation released the arcade version as part of their Arcade Archives series for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in January 2023.
Galaga was included in Namco compilations including Namco Museum Vol. 1 (1995), Namco Museum 64 (1996), Namco Museum 50th Anniversary (2005), Namco Museum Virtual Arcade (2008), Namco Museum Essentials (2009), and Namco Museum Megamix (2010). The 2010 Wii game Pac-Man Party and its 2011 Nintendo 3DS version include Galaga as an extra, alongside the arcade versions of Dig Dug and Pac-Man. In celebration of the game's 30th anniversary in 2011, a high-definition remake was released for iOS devices as part of Galaga 30th Collection, which also included remakes of Galaxian, Gaplus and Galaga '88. Alongside the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sequel Galaga Legions, it was ported to the Nintendo 3DS in 2011 as part of Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions. The original version was also added to the iOS Namco Arcade compilation in 2012. The NES release is one of 30 games included in the NES Classic Edition.